TETFund disburses N6.3bn grant to 217 researchers

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund has disbursed over N6.4 billion to a total of 217 researchers under its 2020 National Research Fund grant cycle for the conduct of cutting-edge research in public tertiary institutions in the country.

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Professor Suleiman Bogoro, made this known in Abuja, at the formal inauguration of the biennial TETFund National Research Fund Screening & Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC), as well as the Technical Advisory Group (TAG).

While the NRFS&MC is chaired by Prof. Abubakar Kundiri, TAG has Prof. Charles Aworh as the chairman with a mandate to screen proposals on manuscripts for development into academic textbooks and advise TETFund on fundable manuscripts among other things.

Bogoro who explained that the grant cycle of the 2020 exercise was concluded in January 2020, added that the awardees were selected from public tertiary institutions and research institutes after rigorous screening by the National Research Fund Screening & Monitoring Committee headed by a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Olufemi Bamiro.

While urging members of the committees inaugurated to adhere strictly to merit, he warned against compromise in the selection process, stressing that any member found wanting would be deleted from the committee.

He recalled that the Fund had from 2012 to 2019, also awarded a total of 240 research grants at a total cost of ₦6,708,367,736.25, which he observed was almost the awards for 2020 alone.

He said: “From 2012 to 2019, a total of 240 Research Grants have been awarded at a total cost of N6,708,367,736.25.

“Also in 2020, key development in the NRF grant administration was the introduction of an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) to automate the hitherto manual processes associated with receiving and processing of Concept Notes and Research Proposals.

“This was done with a view to entrench and sustain the culture of efficiency and effectiveness in the process of awarding the NRF Grant and in line with global best practices.

“The 2020 NRF Grant Cycle Exercise was concluded in January 2021 with a total of 217 Research Proposals recommended for Grant Award at a total cost of N6,396,159,060.00.”

He disclosed that the TETFund National Research Fund intervention line was introduced in 2009 as a Special Intervention Programme, with a seed grant of N3 billion, aimed at promoting the conduct of applied research and innovation by academics in public tertiary educational institutions and research institutes.

According to him, the seed grant was augmented with an additional N1b in 2015, while the Board of Trustees of TETFund set up the NRF Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC) and charged it with the responsibility for implementing and administering the intervention.

“Upon my reinstatement in 2019, we transformed the NRF into an annual intervention and enlarged the funding envelope to N5b. As at the 2020 iteration of the NRF Grant Cycle, we had increased the funding pot to N7.5b.

“For 2021, we have made available N8.5b, indicating a clear progression and our determination to keep moving in the right direction. The 2020 NRF Grant Cycle Exercise has concluded in January 2021 with a total of 217 Research Proposals recommended for Grant Award at a total cost of ₦6,396,159,060.00,” he said.

He noted that the NRF intervention was primarily targeted at researchers in public tertiary education institutions, private universities could now take advantage of the fund by teaming up with eligible beneficiary institutions to compete for research grants.

The Executive Secretary charged universities in Nigeria to refocus on ensuring that their research leads to problem-solving outcomes, and not just for journal publications, library archiving and promotion to the next rank.

“That while the Post-Colonial priority of Nigerian Universities prioritized the production of manpower to replace colonial bureaucrats, they must now toe the line of the largest and most competitive economies, by emphasizing the application of knowledge through research to problems of the economy, technology and nation, including good governance at all levels in our country,” Bogoro said.

He lamented that one of the challenges in the past was lack of textbooks written by indigenous authors, noting however that through the efforts of TAG, TETFund has been able to engage from 2019 to 2021, over 700 Nigerian scholars from across the nation’s Tertiary Education Institutions in the six geo-political zones and the FCT, with some from the diaspora and some private sector practitioners as contributing Authors, Co-ordinating/Co-ordinating Editors and Reviewers to write 43 basic textbooks (introductory texts) in diverse subject areas that address local needs and reflect familiar realities and experiences for Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Institutions.

Chairman, Board of Trustees of TETFund, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, while inaugurating the committees said the agency in the last 10 years has done a lot to transform the landscape of public tertiary institutions in the country, adding that the paradigm shift was for TETFund to also focus on research and content development as the best way to go.

He said no country in the world has developed without prioritising R&D, assured that the Board of Trustees would continue to focus strategic attention on R&D as well as other areas to usher in the desired development in the country.

According to him, apart from the various infrastructural developmental projects being executed by the agency, N30 billion would be spent on the training of academic staff in 2021.

The Chairman of NRFS & MC, Prof. Abubakar Kundiri, in his acceptance speech, pledged the commitment and dedication of members of the committee towards the actualization of the mandate of TETFund, especially in the area of deepening research in tertiary institutions and promotion of conduct of cutting-edge research in the country.

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President Muhammadu Buhari Friday at State House Abuja urged the MTN Group to make the available top-of-the-range service to its Nigerian subscribers…  TETFund disburses N6.3bn grant to 217 researchers  TETFund disburses N6.3bn grant to 217 researchers  TETFund disburses N6.3bn grant to 217 researchers TETFund disburses N6.3bn grant to 217 researchers.